Alabama Football: 5 breakout freshmen to watch in 2018

Alabama football will be gunning for their third national title in four years in 2018. Which freshmen might help them along the way?

Oh, to be Alabama, and have a fresh influx of five-star talent entering the program every offseason.

2018 was actually a rare year for the Tide – for the first time since 2010, Bama didn’t reel in the nation’s top class per the 247 Sports composite. Their fans will have to settle for the supposed sixth-best class.

Nonetheless, there are a ton of top-tier true freshmen joining the defending national champions this season, and a handful should get a chance to see the field. Here are five of the most likely breakout candidates among the class.

One of the nation’s top prospects, the five-star corner (and, of course son of NFL corner Patrick Surtain) was thought to be going to LSU all the way up until National Signing Day, when Nick Saban struck and the Tide pulled off a massive recruiting coup from their SEC West rival.

Surtain is ready to play today. He’s a tall, physical player at 6-foot-2, 200 pounds and should contend for a spot immediately in a Crimson Tide secondary that lost six players from last season’s team. Perhaps he won’t carve out a niche right away, as he’s yet to arrive on campus, but it would be a shock if the young defensive back wasn’t playing major snaps come the end of the season.